Not Exactly Sex, Drugs, and Alcohol
by arisachu
Summary: CS May is a first year university student, but things aren't exactly going her way, and meeting Drew just makes everything ten times worse. Rated for mild language and potential future escapades.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Nope, not me, not mine, if I did, don't you think this shipping would be blatantly canon? Like, _BLATANTLY_.

A/N: I just can't stop all this inspiration. Too bad it's never for _Wishing You Were Here_. Ugh. God, I hope this doesn't turn into another chaptered story.

Oh, for some reason I have the urge to write them with their English names. I don't know why, usually I _love_ writing with their Japanese names, but apparently it's going to happen.

* * *

May stretched in her bed, still under her comforter. It was a groggy Monday, and May was definitely not ready to face it. She glanced over to her roommate, who was still sleeping soundly, like the lazy ass she was. She sighed, thinking dorm life was definitely not all it was cracked up to be. It was definitely crappier than crap.

Stepping into her slippers, May grabbed her toothbrush and quietly left the room so as not to wake her roommate. Unfortunately, her hand slipped and the door slammed violently. It hit May square in the forehead. Then she dropped her toothbrush.

_Urgh_, she thought to herself, running her palms down her cheeks. It was going to be one of those days.

* * *

After the morning's mishaps, she had apologized profusely to her roommate, May was dragging her feet to the dining hall, heavy yellow backpack in tow. May had been attending LaRousse University for over three months now, and she still hated every minute of it. No friends, no family, shitty classes. Everything seemed to all go downhill for May after she graduated from Petalburg Girls Prep School.

_"May!" shouted Caroline happily. "You're finally graduated. I'm so happy to see me little girl all grown up!"_

_"Bleh," May said, wiping her mother's kisses off her cheek, face turning bright red. "Geez, you can switch off the over-excited mother mode already. It's really no big deal. I'm expected to graduate, I didn't really have much of a choice. They would have kicked me out otherwise."_

_Caroline gave her daughter a stern look, "This is one of the best schools you can go to, the competition is tough, and you made it through. Be proud of yourself, May."_

_May shrugged, "I suppose you're right. I did make good work of this place."_

_May smiled affectionately at the building. She had a lot of good times there, even if the workload was mountains high and everyone was trying to get on top. She was going to miss everyone, the teachers, her friends, and even those girls who didn't particularly like her._

_"Next stop, LaRousse University!" May shouted, enthusiastically, fist thrown into the air._

_Max, her younger brother who currently attended Rustboro Boys Academy, patted her on the back, "Never thought I'd see this day."_

_"Cheeky as always," she said, but she knew he was just kidding._

_"LaRousse University. Hot stuff, sis," he told her, grinning._

_"Yeah, well, you'll be in my place in a few years," she said, sighing. "And you'll probably end up going somewhere like Sootopolis Tech or something."_

_He shrugged, knowing school was always a touchy subject for his sister. She did well, but only because she worked really hard in high school. University would be another story, especially somewhere like LaRousse. He hoped she kept up her drive and work ethic that he never saw her have for any other activity._

_"Hey, May," he said, causing her to jump, clearly coming out of her own thoughts._

_"What?" she asked, rubbing her eye._

_"I have something for you," he pulled out a little box and handed it to her. "Congrats on your graduation."_

_May smiled and took the box from him. Opening it revealed a necklace with a thin chain and a silver clover. She smiled and gave her brother a big hug._

_"Max, thank you," she sniffled; she would miss her brother most. "Clover?"_

_"For luck," he said, grinning, "because now that you won't have me around all the time–"_

_She poked him in the shoulder, "Oh, hush, I can do just fine on my own."_

_He shrugged, "Okay, May, whatever you say…"_

That was the last happy memory she had. Once her things had been dumped into her tiny dorm room and everything had been unpacked, her loud-mouthed roommate bounded in and tossed her own stuff anywhere and everywhere. She had tried to reason and negotiate with the monster, but the roommate never listened. Why, just this morning as she left the room for breakfast, she had stepped on at least three different things on the floor, one or two that were of a strange gelatin-ic consistency that May didn't even want to question at this point.

May stepped into the cool air of the dining hall and swiped her card, moving through the line of hungry students, none of which she knew. Not that LaRousse University was a small place, yet May still felt that she should be able to recognize at least one or two other people besides the Swamp Monster. She couldn't.

She sighed and grabbed her usual, a bowl of cereal and one or two pieces of fruit. Just as she was about to go sit down, she spilled milk all over the front of her shirt. Still unable to believe her luck, she sighed, sufficiently defeated at only seven in the morning, and tried to blot off the milk from her jacket. It was no use, and she just gave up and accepted that now definitely no one would talk to her today.

She sat alone and bitterly slaughtered her breakfast.

* * *

Three class periods later May was geared up for just one more. She had already gone to World Studies, pre-calculus, and English. She was ready to get chemistry out of the way and just get the day over with.

As she expected, no one talked to her in World Studies. Later, in math, she was ignored. In English, a girl looked like she may have wanted to talk to her, but really she was motioning to the boy behind her. May didn't think she particularly exuded an aura of hostility and anti-sociality. At least she didn't before. If she did now, it was only because no one seemed to like her at all. She was ready for everyone to pretend she wasn't there in chemistry. Sucking up her frustration, she hoisted her bag onto her shoulder and power-walked to the chemistry building.

* * *

"Hey," the Swamp Monster said, chomping loudly on her gum.

"Hey," replied May, less than enthused.

She couldn't figure how this girl could act the way she did, and never notice how much May deeply despised her for her very existence. Certainly she couldn't be that dense?

"Lots of work tonight?" asked the Swamp Monster when she saw May packing almost everything she had for what the Swamp Monster would assume to be an overnight stay of several weeks.

May shrugged, "I guess."

Truthfully, May didn't have any work at all, really. She had finished almost all the work for the whole semester within the first three weeks, having spent all her time in the Student Study Center in her vain attempt to rid herself of as much Swamp Monster as she could. She hated being in the room, and usually spent the night in the Study Center, usually locking all her valuables in her dorm closet so that the Swamp Monster couldn't throw crap on top of it or dump bubbles or whatever sticky shit she always seemed to get _everywhere_.

She was packing up all her things when she noticed something shine out of the corner of her eye. She pushed away some papers to find her clover necklace. Smiling, she put it on and shoved the rest of her books and transportable belongings into her large bag, sticking her mP3 player earphones into her ears. As she stumbled out of the room she lifted the clover and, just in case those sorts of things actually worked, blew lightly onto it.

_Tomorrow will be a new day_.

* * *

UGGHH I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M STARTING ANOTHER CHAPTERED STORY. But I can't just let this idea slip away. I'm too stressed to not have something to write when inspiration strikes me. /sigh/ Here we go again. Not sure how often it'll get updated, but probably more often than I usually do. I've been spending a lot of time in the room, despite my ridiculously seemingly busy life schedule. But I like this plot, so on it goes. Oh, and _definite_ Contestshipping. Potential Pokeshipping, but could turn out Palletshipping. I think I may throw in some Appealshipping, just because one can never write about too many homosexual relationships. Or maybe it'll be just one big mess of madness. Well, definite Contestshipping. Can never get enough Contestshipping. Oh, no Drew this chapter, more of just an introduction to the setting, plot, whatever, but he'll definitely show up next chapter. Thanks, review please!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any of its affiliated characters and settings and ideas and plots and dialogue and… yes, I'm done.

A/N: I feel bad neglecting my other pokémon story, but alas, the inspiration just won't come. So here I am, writing another chapter for this. Last chapter seemed pretty angsty, but that wasn't really what I intended the whole thing to be. It'll get less angst starting……… now!

* * *

Sleeping, May shifted in her seat in the student study center, almost falling off of her chair. Her hair was a mess, her face red and splotchy from where her face had rested on her fists. Her earphones were still in her ears, but nothing bothered her sleep.

Nothing, that is, except the boy who was currently making a beeline for her chair.

He was holding all of his books in his arms while carrying a small bag on his back. As soon as he reached her seat, he shook her lightly awake.

"Nyunghph," May groaned incoherently. "What?"

The boy grinned, this girl was absolutely ridiculous. He wondered if she realized that she was almost drooling all over the table. He ruffled his hair and continued.

"Excuse me, but I happen to work here at the study center, and we explicitly state that we do not allow boarders," he said very matter-of-factly.

She waved him off, rather sloppily, only to turn her head the other way, shift in her seat once more, and then go back to sleep. He thought she meant to say something back, but didn't realize if she was or was not actually speaking.

He shook her once again, "You can't sleep here."

Not only was she ridiculous, but she was crazy as well. The chairs here couldn't possibly be that comfortable. And he noticed she had been making it a habit of coming to the study center for nights at a time, doing homework, reading books, any solitary activity she could come up with. She never had a companion, and she always looked unhappy.

He shook her again, "Hey, why don't you go back to your dorm?"

She sighed, upset that someone cared about her existence only when she just wanted to sleep, "Why do you care?"

He wasn't expecting that. He figured she would make up some stupid excuse to get him off her back. She didn't look like the sarcastic type.

"Someone will end up stealing your stuff or something," he said casually. "Aren't you worried about sleeping in a place anyone can get to?"

She shrugged, still half asleep, on the table, "I don't have anything worth stealing."

He sighed, admitting defeat. He wasn't going to get her out of here, not that he was even sure why he cared in the first place. He supposed he just felt bad for her, always sitting around alone looking particularly distressed. He acknowledged that he could sometimes be pretty stubborn himself, but he had enough heart to know when someone was having a really rough time of it.

He sat down across from her, determined to get her to talk to him, "What's your name?"

"What time is it?"

He gave a slight laugh. She was really determined to _not_ talk to him. No girl ever tried this hard to get rid of him.

"Around seven in the morning," he began to say, but he didn't make it past "se-" before she shot up, ripping the earphones from her ears and shoving everything she had left sprawled on the table into her bag.

"Shit, I'm late," she spat, worry evident in her blue eyes. "Why the hell didn't my alarm go off?"

The boy looked back at her, "So that's what that noise was. It was loud as anything, I don't know how you could have missed it."

May slumped back into her chair. He wasn't sure what she was thinking, or if she was okay, but it didn't matter, because soon she was up and running out of the building.

"Wait, I never got your…" he, too, slumped back into his chair, "name."

* * *

"Look, I just need some other room," May pleaded, exasperated. "Any room will do. I'll take the worst dorm, anything, just let me move _please_."

May was sitting in a small room with two older looking men and one female not much older than she. This was the third time May was meeting with these people, and she felt that every time it got just that much more frustrating. The two men looked at their papers, then at each other.

"I'm sorry May," one of them said. "We just aren't able to move you. It's policy."

She was beginning to get angry, "You've got to be kidding. I _cannot_ live with her. I've tried rationalizing with her. I've tried talking to her. She doesn't listen. She won't clean up after herself, and she's loud as anything. I simply cannot live with her anymore. It's hindering my ability to learn."

The girl sitting with them piped in, "You're grades seem fine. You never seem to need help with anything."

May pulled on her hair, more frustrated than she had ever been in her life, "That's not the point. I can't study in my room, ever, and most of the time I can't even sleep there, she's so loud until two, three, even four in the morning."

The men weren't convinced, "I'm sorry, there's just nothing we can do right now. We'll let you know, though, if anything opens up."

They held out their hands to shake hers, and she grudgingly took it, "Thank you."

The day was starting out to be another crappy one, indeed. Her personal motto was to always end the day with hope, but not matter how many nights she went to bed thinking _tomorrow will be better_, everything still managed to throw itself back at her. Not even Max's luck could help save May now.

She sighed, _at least someone talked to you today. You can't ask for much more than that_.

Not that she had stuck around to hear his name. She was in such a panic at her lateness that she just up and ran out. She felt incredibly rude. The first person to talk to her in a month, and she acts like a complete jerk.

She glanced down at her watch, "Shit! Nine fifteen already! I'll be late!"

May held onto her backpack and ran all the way across campus.

* * *

"Geez, May, your only class of the day and you're late," she said to herself, grabbing a chicken potpie from the assortment of dining hall foods and setting it on her tray.

Her one and only class of the day was over and as she left the building, she knocked her shin into a brick ledge, causing it to bruise. She was walking with a slight limp, gaining the looks of her peers as she hobbled through the line, grabbing a juice box before she swiped her card and paid. She quickly found a seat and began to shovel in her potpie, ignoring the rest of the diners.

"Bad day?"

May's head whipped around to the source of the sound. She was looking up into the eyes of the boy she had run away from earlier that day. May smiled, clearly fate had given her a second chance. Perhaps things wouldn't be so bad today.

"I suppose so," she said, fork still hanging out of her mouth.

He smiled to himself. Whatever good fortune he had run into now, he wasn't about to shut down.

"Mind if I sit?" he asked, not waiting for an answer.

She nodded, "Sure. My name is May."

"Ash."

She was elated. Finally, someone had noticed she actually existed.

"So what brings you to the study center so much?" he asked, starting into his own lunch.

She shrugged, "The room is a bit… hectic."

Ash gave a knowing grin, "Shitty roommate? I understand just where you're coming from."

May felt as if she was walking on air. Perhaps Max's clover charm really did the trick. She would have to make sure to call him and let him know.

"I tried to get a new room, but no one will listen. It's so… frustrating," she thrust her fork at her nearly empty plate.

He nodded, giving a reassuring smile, "I understand completely. My freshman year I had this awful roommate. He left half-eaten food everywhere and made loud phone calls from one in the morning until at least three. They wouldn't give me a change either. It's just something we deal with until the year is done."

May mulled it over in her head. She was so upset about how things turned out, she never gave it a thought that other people had problems like hers, too. It was comforting, even if it didn't help her realistically in the slightest.

"Hey, Ash!" May turned around to see a brown-haired boy making his way to their table.

Ash was practically beaming, "What's going on, Gary?"

The boy called Gary sat himself down next to May and held out his hand, "Gary Oak. And you are?"

She took his hand, smiling nearly as wide as Ash was, "May Mayple."

"Pleasure," he said, turning back to Ash.

She grinned. Yes indeed, it was a great day.

* * *

Note: Hmm. I changed my original track with this chapter. I wonder if anyone can tell, though I'm sure at the beginning it's obvious. This is where things will start to get interesting, so I hope everyone who was with me before is still on board. See you next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Pokémon is not mine. Although if it _were_ mine, I suppose I wouldn't have to go to school and do all this dumb homework I'm avoiding by writing more of this… That'd be nice…

A/N: I feel so lame for neglecting my other story! /sigh/ I should be studying. Then I wouldn't feel bad about that. Of course, then I'd be bored out of my skull. So here I am, writing more. Oh, and I got a review that said something about Advanceshipping. Nonsense! Not that I want to give away anything, buuuuut. There's nothing I love more than the Contestshipping pairing. Trust me, it'll come.  
I'm not even going to pretend I'm trying to write this with Japanese schooling in mind. I don't know if they have grad students in Japan, but at this point, I'm not too concerned.

* * *

"That's some story, May."

May shrugged. She, Ash, and Gary were sitting outside on a bench eating ice cream cones. May had just finished telling the two about how her first few months of university had been going. It had been a week since she met them, and through the two, she had managed to make a handful of friends. Most of them were older than her, and she felt pretty good to know she finally had a group of friends at the school. However, she learned that the majority of them lived off campus. Only herself, Ash, and another girl she had met once or twice lived in the student dorms.

She had finally gotten over her former gloom and was all smiles. Ash and Gary had definitely noticed, and often complimented her on her cheerfulness.

May looked over at Gary, who was eating vanilla ice cream. She smiled and her stomach jumped when he looked over. She gave a slight cough and turned back to her own cone, practically shoving it in her mouth at once.

"So, May," he asked, slight grin forming at her behavior, "do you have any plans for the week?"

May thought a moment. It was currently Monday afternoon. Since her switch to a happier lifestyle, she had been scoping out the clubs that the university had to offer. She was pretty sure she wanted to check out the cooking club and she was thinking about sitting in on a drama club meeting. She pulled out her organizer to check on dates.

"Well, my week is actually pretty slow," she said, frowning. "I don't have a single test, or anything due, really. There's a cooking club meeting tomorrow at five, but drama club doesn't meet this week. But I think the Swamp Monster is going back home this weekend, so I'll be able to sleep in my room."

Ash laughed, "Did you really just call your roommate the 'Swamp Monster'?"

May blushed, not realizing she used her insulting name for her roommate out loud, "Oh, heh, yeah. I started calling her that after the first month. Seriously, it's like living in a swamp, and she's the head slimy reptile. I was thinking about cleaning this weekend, but what's the point, she'll just gross is up again when she gets back."

"Well, you're welcome to stay in our apartment if you ever really need to," Gary said casually. "We've got a futon that no one really ever uses."

May's eyes widened. Had she really just been given an offer to stay with Gary? She thought her heart might explode. She took a deep breath and put her hands on her knees.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

Ash slapped his friend in the back, holding his hand on his shoulder, "You scared her, buddy. Remember. She's just a freshman!"

Gary laughed with Ash, "Well, maybe you're right."

May crossed her arms, "Hey! I'll have you know I'm not so naïve and little as you take me for!"

The two stopped laughing and looked at May, who had a frustrated, yet slightly confused look upon her face. They burst into fits of laughter again, leaving May to pout to herself.

* * *

"Is this the cooking club?" May asked tentatively as she opened the door to classroom 317 in the Food Science building.

She was greeted by a smiling girl with bright red hair, "You bet it is. Take a seat wherever you want, we're just about to get started for today."

May smiled and started to walk to seat in the middle of the sea of desks. The girl called out to her again.

"Wait, I didn't get your name. You're a new face, right?" she looked at May.

"I'm May," she said, sitting down.

"May," she said smiling, "that's a nice name. My name is Misty. I'm the vice president of the club."

"Okay, let's get started," a voice called out as the door to the room opened.

Misty smiled and took a seat in the front row. An older boy with brown hair walked to the front of the room, dozens of utensils in his arms, and scanned the room, nodding in what May took to be approval.

"I see we have some new faces today," he began, putting his load onto a desk in the front row. "My name is Brock. I'm a graduate student here and I'm currently president of the cooking club. I'm glad you all could be here today, since we'll be trying something new today."

May looked around the room. There were a lot of people involved in the club. She hoped that she could be friends with them. She caught the eye of another girl who ignored her. Used to this treatment, May averted her gaze back up to the front of the room where Brock was writing out the schedule for the day's meeting. Once finished, he instructed everyone to find a partner.

Finally confident in this school, May took initiative and walked over to Misty, who was watching everyone scatter about the room, "I don't really know anybody so would you like to be my partner?"

Misty smiled. She usually partnered up with Brock in order to demonstrate any sticky spots in the activity, but it couldn't hurt to pair up with one of the other members for a change.

"Okay, May," she said brightly. "I'd love to work with you."

As soon as everyone was partnered up, Brock announced that they would be moving into the kitchens. Before they could, however, a boy with green hair and a confident smirk strolled in.

"Hope I'm not too late," he said, flipping his hair from his eyes.

Brock sighed, "No. No, you're not too late, Drew. Go grab a partner."

Misty frowned slightly and looked around the room. They had an even amount of people that day, so everyone was already paired up. She called out to Drew.

"Come be May's partner. Everyone else is already paired up," she said, exasperated. "Please do try and be on time, though. Your punctuality just astounds me."

Drew strode over to where May, who was looking downright confused, was standing. He held out his hand to hers and she hesitantly took it. He was giving her a confident look that she wasn't feeling very comfortable about.

"The name's Drew," he told her after a long silence.

"Oh, sorry, I'm May," she said, trying her best to put on a smile.

"Good, well, you better be decent because I don't work with amateurs," he began as the room milled out into the hallway.

She shrugged, "It's just something I thought I'd try."

Drew snapped his head to look at her. How he could have gotten stuck with this brain-dead flop of a cook was beyond him. Misty should have just let him work on his own.

May continued to ramble on about something Drew clearly wasn't listening to until she realized what she was doing, "Oh, sorry, I'm talking way too much, aren't I?"

He snorted in surprise, "Yeah, you are."

May felt a pang in her chest. While she was used to being just downright ignored, no one ever was particularly rude to her face like that. It was a nasty feeling and May was beginning to hope whatever it was they would be cooking wouldn't take very long at all. May fell back to speak with Misty.

"What's with him," she asked sadly.

Misty gave May an encouraging smile, "Don't worry about him. Once you get to know him, he's all right."

May sighed, head held down, "Whatever you say."

In front of them, Drew had stopped, hand on his hip, "Hurry up, May. I'll start without you."

May huffed and ran to catch up. Nobody leaves May Maple out of food activities, that's for sure.

* * *

Note: Ugh, kind of an awkward ending, but I do hope you'll forgive me for that. Tell me what you think! Danke!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, thank you very much. Why on earth would I be writing this if I did?

* * *

"What the hell are you doing?"

May sighed as she dropped another egg, shell and all, into the bowl she was working in. It really wasn't her fault she kept screwing up. If Drew would just stop _staring_ at her like that…

"I told you that you were done with the eggs," he said roughly, taking the carton away from her.

May puffed up, ready for a fight. She had a lot of anger stored up from the last few months that, even though she had really been in a good mood now, she hadn't quite gotten out of her system. She fished out the shells with a spoon and waited until she had further instruction from her partner, who definitely seemed to know what he was doing.

He gave an exasperated sigh, "Would you be so kind as to _beat_ the eggs. I can't believe I got paired with you today."

May slammed her fists down onto the counter they were working at. She had finally had it with that boy. Ever since they stepped foot into the room he had been barking orders at her and telling her she was doing everything wrong. She had tried to help with the rice dish, which was apparently their new dish of the week, but he insisted she was in the way and put her on soup duty. But even then, she was doing something wrong, she didn't crack the egg right, she didn't stir the rice, she didn't slice the vegetables properly, she just in general didn't know what she was doing.

"You know what, Drew," she said, positively seething. "I'm sick of you. I've sat back and dealt with all this crap for the last three months, and I'm done. If you'd rather just work alone, then tell me, because that plan seems like a good one to me."

Drew watched, more than slightly shocked at her outburst, as May stalked off, making her way to where Misty and Brock were standing.

She put on a smile for them, "I'm so sorry I exploded like that. I really hope you don't hold it against me, because I really would like to come back next time."

Misty smiled a reassuring smile, "It's okay, we understand how… well, how things get. But take my number and give me a call if you ever need to talk."

May smiled a genuine smile to her new friend Misty, "Thanks. I will."

She turned on her heel and marched out straight past Drew, head held high, confidence faltering slightly under his gaze. She didn't give up her stance, however, until she was out of the room and out of sight. When she finally was, she let out a sigh and kicked the wall lightly in pathetic frustration. She had let that guy get to her, for no reason what so ever, and had caused a scene on her first day.

She grabbed her phone from her bag and brought up her contact list. She thought for a moment about whom she wanted to call. For a moment she typed in 'G', but quickly erased it and clicked down twice and 'call' and waited for the other end to pick up.

She waited three rings until, "Hello?"

May smiled, "Hey, Ash."

He sounded a bit confused, "What's going on?"

May sighed, "Well, I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner in the cafeteria with me. I've kind of had a rough afternoon."

She could hear Ash already putting on his jacket, "Meet you there soon."

May giggled, Ash really was a great friend. She was pretty lucky. Maybe it was worth the three months of loneliness to find really great friends. Plus, she had made a new friend in Misty. On the other hand, she had also snapped at another student. She was slightly ashamed of herself and she couldn't place it, but she thought that Drew had seemed very familiar. She resolved to apologize the next time she saw him.

Picking up her bag again, she hurried out of the food science building and over to the cafeteria.

--

Three days had passed since her cooking club activities. May, Ash, and Gary were sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch together, a now usual meeting. May had nearly forgotten about her blow-up at Drew and was enjoying a moderately peaceful week, despite the fact that she hadn't been in her room for more than ten minutes at any given time. Most nights she spent in the study center talking to Ash while completing homework due several weeks into the future. She was beginning to worry that soon she would complete all her coursework for the semester and wouldn't have anything left to do during the evenings.

She resolved to at least give Max a call soon and tell him how she's been doing, especially since he had been so worried about her studies. At this point, he had nothing to worry about, as all she really had to do around the school was study.

"I heard you had a breakdown at cooking club," Gary said, snapping May out of her thoughts about studying.

"Huh?" May asked, clearly not paying attention to anything the two had been saying for the past five minutes.

Ash laughed, "So you're ignoring us, May?"

She blushed and fiddled her thumbs, "That's not true, I'm just a little distracted."

Gary waved off the issue, "I said I heard about your explosion in your club the other day. What happened?"

May's blush deepened by at least four shades. Ash had told Gary about what happened. On the one hand, she was incredibly elated to know that he talked about her to friends when she wasn't around, but at the same time, she was so embarrassed that Gary had found out about her freak out.

"Y-yeah. It was bit… well, he was pretty frustrating," she stuttered.

Ash was watching May intently. She was acting strange by his standards, and he wasn't sure what was going on. He had never seen her so nervous before, and he was sure it was just because Gary had called her out on her breakdown. When she had told him about it, she wasn't embarrassed nearly as much. He decided to dismiss the issue for now, focusing his attention to where Gary and May were looking.

"Hey, Misty!" May called out, waving to a girl across the cafeteria.

The girl in question pushed her way through the crowd and finally sat down at the table next to May.

Gary smiled and introduced himself, holding his hand out to her. She smiled and took it, looking next to Ash.

"This is Ash," May said happily. "He was my first friend here."

Misty smiled and held her hand out to Ash, who was staring quite blatantly at her. He quickly took it and smiled.

"I'm Misty. It's so nice to meet you!"

The girls turned to chatting with each other about some boy the other two didn't know. The guys shrugged and carried a conversation on of their own until they heard May cry out and slump onto the table, Misty patting her on the back.

"What's with her?" Gary asked, not seeing anything around that could logically cause May to act the way she was.

Misty jerked her thumb to the right in the direction of a boy approaching their table. He looked like a jerk to the two boys, and Ash was pretty sure this had to be the one May had exploded at, as she had never mentioned having hostile relations with any other boys on campus.

"May," he said smirking, stopping when he had reached their table. "Fancy running into you here."

May lifted her head to look at him, "Hello, Drew."

May had soon realized why she had thought he looked so familiar. Drew had just so happened to be in three of May's classes. How she hadn't noticed him before was beyond her, but she was quite frankly glad she hadn't. It saved her an extra three months of misery. As soon as she stepped into pre-calculus she saw him there, sitting in what she presumed to be his usual desk, giving her the smirk of a lifetime. He had apparently noticed her in his class before, and now intended to give her a cute little "surprise."

She had attempted to apologize for her behavior toward him the other day, but he merely accepted her apology, accusing her of being a dangerous girl with anger management, and she simply couldn't _help_ lashing out the way she did.

She wanted to punch him in the face right there, and she wanted to punch him now.

"What do you want?" she asked in a tired voice, not ready to deal with him on a day she didn't have to.

She watched as he flipped his hair, pretty sure that he was trying to show off his looks to her. She had to admit he was pretty good looking. Too bad his personality was complete crap.

"Are you even listening to me?" he asked after her few moments of silence. "I asked you a question."

May sighed, not even bothering to apologize, "No, actually, I wasn't, because I don't feel like dealing with you right now."

He shrugged, "Suit yourself. See you in pre-calc tomorrow."

May gave a half-assed wave in his general direction, "Yeah, see you."

When he was far enough away, Misty turned her attention in on May, "You didn't tell me that he was in your classes! How come you didn't know him when you went to cooking club?"

May sighed, "Well, it's a bit embarrassing, but… no one has actually talked to me in any of my classes before he did just yesterday. Ash was my first friend, and I just met him."

Misty frowned. It was clearly not the answer she expected. May could tell she felt bad for even bringing it up. In all honesty, May didn't even care about that anymore. She was done being bitter and was just happy to have the three friends she did have, even if she did gain one heck of an enemy in the process.

"It's fine, Misty, I don't even think about it anymore," she looked over at Ash and Gary, who still weren't even sure what just happened. "Besides, they're my friends now, and that's what's important to me. And honestly, I can only really go up from here, right?"

Misty smiled and looked at May's two friends, "Well, you better take good care of May, or else you'll have to answer to me."

May giggled, "Geez, Misty, intimidate my friends, why don't you? You did just meet them, after all."

Misty gave her a victory sign, "Us girls have to stick together and take care of each other, aren't I right?"

Ash smiled, "You don't have to worry about May. She's a tough girl, and we've got her back."

Gary nodded in agreement, sending a shiver down May's back. She wasn't sure just quite why she was feeling like this so much lately, especially when he was around. It was slightly unnerving, but kind of nice at the same time.

"Well, May, it was nice seeing you, but I really have to run, I've got so much to do before I meet with Brock to discuss the next meeting," Misty said standing up. "It was nice to meet you both. See you around!"

May waved to her friend as she walked briskly from the cafeteria. Finally, she had a girl friend to talk about girl things with. As much as she loved having Ash and Gary around, it would be weird to talk to Ash about things like how she was feeling about Gary, and it would be even worse to try and discuss it with Gary himself!

"Hey, May, I have to head out, too," Ash said, gathering his things into his bag. "I'll be late for class if I don't leave soon. And Miss Jessie gets so scary when you're late."

May smiled, "I'll see you around, then."

Gary and May sat in silence together for a solid five minutes. All May could do was play with the food on her plate absentmindedly while Gary sat back and watched the people around him.

May had no idea what to say. She had never spent time with Gary alone. It was always just Ash or the both of them together. She wished Misty was still there, she would have known what to say. But she was alone, so she would have to make the best of it.

"I think I'm going to head out, too," May said stupidly. "I think the Swamp Monster may still be in class so I can grab some things from the room."

May stood up and grabbed her tray, putting on a smile for Gary. She wasn't sure what he thought of her, or if he even cared that she was a nervous wreck who couldn't think straight at the moment. She figured she could just get out of there and everything would be all right. So she did, and then kicked herself when she got out of the building for running away like a coward.

* * *

Note: This should have been done four hours ago. -.- Go figure. I get so ADD when it comes to stuff going on around here. I could have had another chapter already finished by now, but no, I have to go off and get distracted by everything any anything. Well, I got one out today, hopefully more will come soon. School's been kicking my butt though, so we'll see. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, though I don't think it's my favorite. Oh, and don't forget to tell me what you think! Danke!  
Oh, and I promise, the whole thing isn't GaryxMay. I do really like the idea of her naive crush on an older boy who isn't Ash, though. But this is definitely a Contestshipping intention.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Do I own Pokemon? That's a great question! Oh wait, it's not, actually, because I think we've been over this a million times before. But the answer is no.

Note: Holy guacamole, I've had this puppy sitting in the memory banks on my laptop for a good solid month, at least, and I never realized I never actually posted it! Chapter six is finished, too, I think, so no sense in making you wait longer. So as an apology for making you wait so long due to my stupidity, you get two tonight! So sorry!!!!

* * *

May's schedule was packed the following week. She had surprise tests and projects in almost every class, and while she had work that was already written in her syllabi done, she was not expecting all these last-minute assignments.

Every class seemed to love giving out spontaneous projects, and May was quite sick of it. Most of them involved partners, and she just so happened to be paired with Drew for most of them. He just waltzed up to her desk and proclaimed that they would be working together. She could already feel that it was going to be miserable.

The first night working together was miserable. Per usual, he didn't let her do much of anything. The only thing that gave her a little satisfaction in the whole ordeal was that she forced him to meet her at her usual spot in the study center. There was no way she was going to go out of her way to work with him when he was the one who made her work with him.

So there they were at eight PM at her usual table, bickering away on the right way to solve a certain equation.

"No, Drew," May said in utter frustration. "I swear, you're so difficult. I know what I'm doing. I finished this ages ago, turned it in and got full credit. You're not doing it right."

Drew clenched his fist and shook his head, "Are you telling me I'm wrong?"

May gave a sarcastic laugh and rolled her eyes, "Give the boy a medal."

Drew leered at her, though he knew she was right. He had seen her before, same table, same chair, books everywhere, every time. He had to admit, one time he did stay and watch her as long as he could stay awake and realized she never left. Instead, she slept in that damn chair. He was shocked. He wondered if she would sleep here again tonight.

She shrugged, "I mean, we could do it your way, but just be prepared to not get full credit."

May watched as Drew sighed and leaned back in his chair. She let out a little gasp. She was not prepared for him to give up so easily. But also, she couldn't believe how… sexy he just made that look. She shook her head, trying to erase her thoughts. She couldn't believe she had just thought that way about Drew.

She did admit that she spent less time thinking about her feelings toward Gary and more time thinking about Drew. Admittedly, she was paired with him for nearly everything she could count, but at the same time, she did admit he really was good looking.

"May?" Drew waved a hand in front of her face. "Are you listening to me, May?"

"What?" she shook herself out of her thoughts. Those were dumb thoughts to be having anyway. It was more important to think about school. This assignment was due in three days and they had gotten nowhere.

"I think it would be best if we just finished tomorrow," Drew said, throwing his things in his bag.

May snapped her head to face him, "What? We haven't even started!"

He shrugged, "Clearly you can't even pay attention enough to answer simple questions. We'll work on it tomorrow afternoon."

May sighed, "Fine, whatever. Meet me here whenever after four. I'll be here."

"Fine. See you tomorrow."

May almost waved before she remembered that she didn't actually like him. She slumped her head onto the table and fell asleep.

-

Somehow, she made it through the month. With Drew on her back constantly about stupid things, and tests in almost every class, she wondered how she didn't just break down there and then. She was horrible with exams, despite knowing the material ten times over. The thought of only getting one shot drove her nuts, and Drew's face when he finished before her only fueled her frustrations.

Cooking club wasn't much better. Every meeting he bossed her around after insisting she pair with him. She couldn't possibly see why he wanted her to work with him when he was convinced she could barely hold a fork right side up.

The next month rolled over into the following and May was still just as frustrated as before. She was getting to the point where if she ever saw another saucepan, she might hurl it into the face of the next person she saw. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to not go. If she didn't go, Drew would obviously know, and then in class he would positively torment her.

Plus, she said she wasn't going to relent. She would win if it took her all four years at that damn school.

May flipped through her schedule book, letting out a lengthy sigh in the process. It was another night at cooking club. Then she had to study for an exam in chemistry. She yawned and packed her bag, shoving her ID card and a few other odds and ends inside. Satisfied, she quickly ran out of her room, the first time she had been inside in three days, and locked the door, secretly hoping that her roommate was in the shower without a key.

Twenty minutes later she walked into the Food Science building, mentally preparing for another two hours of misery. Today would be different, she said, today would be the day she finally beat him and he would have to accept she was just as good a cook as he was.

Okay, maybe that might be pushing it, even for her. She certainly wasn't the greatest chef the world had ever seen, but still, she had managed to produce more than peanut butter & jelly sandwiches without poisoning someone. So, she concluded, based on this evidence, he had no choice but to acknowledge her.

Her feet carried her to room 317 and she pushed the door open. She smiled at Misty, who was shuffling around bottles and knives. May smiled, she hadn't seen Misty in a couple weeks; she had been absent from the last few meetings.

"Misty!" May said excited, running to greet her friend.

"Hey May!" Misty smiled. "Ready for another day of cooking?"

Shrugging, May glanced behind her, "Well, I don't see Drew yet, so maybe."

Misty laughed, "You know, if you just didn't let him get to you, he probably would just lay off."

On queue, Drew strode through the door, placing his bag on the top of a desk. He flipped his hair and smirked at May.

"What's up May?" he said, overconfident look plastered across his face. May wanted to slap him.

She rolled her eyes and trudged over to him. She figured she would just relent and go to him first; he would inevitably force her into it anyway.

"You better be better than you were last time," he told her, "because I'd rather not be here an extra half hour this time."

May rolled her eyes. She was getting pretty sick of his comments, though at this point she was beginning to become immune. She looked over at Misty with a pleading look, receiving a giggle in return. _Pish, _she thought, _so much for reassurance_. She faced him again and rubbed her temples.

"I'm looking forward to working with you today," she said politely as possible, emphasis on the "working".

It was his turn to roll his eyes, "Just get the stuff and meet me in the room."

* * *

Couldn't figure out how to end that one. :/ Well, either way, I got myself caught up to where I should be. I don't really love this chapter, especially since it was so short, but I wanted the next events to be their own chapter. I'm a little excited about next chapter, I think it's a good one. I've got some pretty good ideas for the future, too, so I hope you'll all stick with me! As always, don't forget reviews make me happy!

-Arisachu


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. No sir.

Note: So here it is, the promised sixth chapter that came with the much delayed for no real reason but my own forgetfulness fifth chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

May shook her head in frustration. He still refused to let her do anything, and while she kept telling herself to not let it get to her, she couldn't help but be ridiculously pissed off. She looked around. There were so many other people in the club, she still couldn't fathom why he kept forcing her to partner up with him. She just assumed he wanted to make her as miserable as humanly possible.

Well, clearly it was working.

"May," Drew snapped, "give me that bowl."

Rolling her eyes, May snatched the bowl from the counter and started to hand it off to Drew. Unfortunately for her, her foot snagged on a bag and she tripped, causing the powdery contents of the bowl to fly up all over her face. She gave a sharp gasp and caught herself on the counter. Immediately, Drew grabbed the bowl, scowling as May rubbed the powder off her face.

"What the heck are you doing, May? We need all of that," he spat, dumping the contents of the bowl into the mix.

Drew gave May a task he hoped she could handle and returned to his mix. About ten minutes later he heard sniffling next to him. He glanced over and saw she was crying.

"Uh, May?" he asked nervously. He didn't think he was so mean as to actually make her cry. Just earlier she acted so dismissively. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Drew?" May asked, rubbing her eyes, which had become quite red. "What was in that bowl?"

Drew looked at her incredulously, not sure why that was so important, "Cinnamon. Why?"

May began to cough, still rubbing her eyes, "Drew… I'm allergic to cinnamon."

He gave a nervous laugh, "Well, how allergic are you?"

May glared at him, "Drew, my throat is closing up."

Drew immediately dropped everything he was doing and ran to Misty, frantically explaining the situation. Misty phoned an ambulance, fingers fumbling to find the right keys. May watched Drew panic until she passed out.

-

May awoke to see two boys next to her bed. One glance told her it was Ash and Gary. She smiled and sat up taking a deep breath.

"Hey guys," she said, fiddling with the bandage on her arm that she had just discovered.

Ash sighed, "What happened? We got a call from Misty on your cell phone saying you fainted."

May laughed nervously, "Heh, yeah, I had a bit of an accident in cooking club. I'm deathly allergic to cinnamon."

Gary put a hand to his head, "Geez, May, how could you not notice you were working with cinnamon? It's a bit hard to miss."

She shrugged, a bit embarrassed by the whole situation. She would have been more embarrassed about fainting in front of Drew had she not noticed his panicked, worried expression. She made a mental note to hold that one over his head for a long time.

"Drew asked me to pass him the bowl, I went to grab it, not knowing what it was, but then I tripped and gasped, but when I did, most of the contents flew into my throat, so without even tasting it, I just swallowed it. I realized what it was when my throat began to close up," she explained to the boys, whose faces looked to be a mix of shock and anger. She quickly added, "But he didn't know I was allergic!"

"Well, at least you're okay," Gary said, seeming to calm down.

May blushed, "Yes, I'm fine now."

The three sat in silence for a few minutes before there was a knock at the door. All three turned to look toward the source of the noise, where a very awkward looking Drew was standing. He coughed a bit and looked directly at May.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked.

Gary and Ash looked at each other before standing and passing Drew out the door, "We'll just leave you two alone, then."

Ash turned back to May, "I've got to go back to campus. Give me a call when you're back on campus so I know you're okay."

May nodded, "I will. Thanks for coming to see me, guys."

Drew entered the room and shut the door. May looked away. She knew she had defended him in front of Ash and Gary, but she couldn't help thinking that maybe she wouldn't be in this situation if he had given her some say as his partner. Every meeting he insisted she be his partner, yet he never filled her in on anything.

She didn't look back over until he was sitting in the chair next to her bed. He cleared his throat and she gave him the blankest stare she could muster.

"May," he said cautiously. "Look, I'm… I'm sorry."

May bit her lip. She didn't really want to say it, she wanted to let him keep thinking she was angry with him. But she couldn't, she just wasn't like that.

"It's okay. It's not your fault," she said quietly.

There was a silence for a while and May was sure Drew was just going to leave. She didn't care if he just left after a lame apology since she expected nothing from him anyway. But still, she couldn't pinpoint this feeling she was having now that he was around.

"May?" she nearly jumped out of her seat. "Why do you keep coming to club?"

May fiddled with the blanket, trying to think of a suitable answer, "I suppose because I wanted to prove to you that I was stronger than that. Your treatment toward me was not going to get me down."

When she looked over she saw him looking at her intently. It was unnerving, but she didn't let it show. Her statement still stood. And to her surprise, he smiled.

"Can I do something?" he asked.

She was silent a moment, mostly out of shock. She slowly nodded, unable to form any idea of he was about to do.

As soon as she had nodded, without any warning, he quickly leaned over and kissed her directly on the lips. May froze, and as soon as Drew pulled away, she fell back onto her pillow. One look told Drew she had fainted.

"Shit… Nurse!"

-

"Wait a second," Misty interrupted as May told her the story four days after the incident. "You fainted?"

May blushed, "Well, I was completely shocked. Plus, I was already weak from the allergy."

Misty unleashed a flurry of giggles, causing May to pout, "Look, I know it sounds stupid, okay. I just want you to tell me what you think."

Misty stopped laughing and gave May a puzzled look, "What do you mean? If you mean tell you if I think he meant what a kiss means, I'll just say that Drew doesn't just kiss girls, even as a joke."

May sat stunned. She wasn't sure she was even able to believe it. He was mean to her, insulted her, and never showed any hint, besides the kiss, that he was interested in her like that.

"I know what you're thinking," Misty started, "but really, he's not a bad guy. He can be a bit rude and arrogant, but he usually isn't as bad as he's been lately. And honestly, I'm not surprised that he's into you. Since you first paired up with him, he's definitely changed his behavior. I think he was just trying to get you to notice him."

"Well, let me tell you, I noticed," May said, biting her lip. "I just don't know what to do."

Misty smiled, "I know he hasn't been so nice to you lately, but I would give him a chance."

Groaning, May put her head in her hands, " I knew you would say that."

"You should have seen the way he panicked when you passed out. I thought we might have needed to send two of you to the hospital. Despite how he's been acting, he seems to really care about you. I think it may have even started in your classes."

May groaned again. She had forgotten about classes. She had been skipping class in order to recover and they were currently bumming around on a Sunday afternoon. She had intended to go back to class the next day, but now she wasn't so sure. She didn't want to face him just yet. She wasn't sure what to say to him.

On one hand, she wanted to say no on principle alone. He was an ass to her, and they both knew it. But on the other hand, she had to admit it was a great kiss. She wasn't sure why, but she felt good when he kissed her.

"I know you have good reason not to like him at all," Misty told her. "But I would consider it. Once you get to know him, he's okay."

May sat back in her chair. Maybe things would be different. She hoped so, she was sick of him treating her like a dog. The more she thought about it, the more she thought it might work. Still, she wasn't so sure she wanted it, or that she was willing to forget how much of a jerk he had been to her.

"Well, just don't skip too much," Misty warned, "or even if you were interested, he'll think you're avoiding him."

May smiled, "Thanks for being here for me, Misty."

Her redheaded friend smiled back, "No problem. Now go get yourself a man. That is, unless you don't want that one, in which case it's understandable, and you can continue your search."

* * *

I'm so excited to be at this point. But I really hate copying work from paper onto computer. It's so annoying to have to keep looking back and forth, and I'm too OCD with it all to not copy word for word. Ugh, and I've got nearly two more pages left like that, too. Well, I think it's all worth it, because I really like this chapter. I hope everyone else liked it too! Don't forget to review. They make my day!

-Arisachu


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